Superheroes, Japanese style. The word can be translated as "Task Force" or "Squadron." Usually come in teams, with [[ColorCodedCharacters color-keyed uniforms]] and a range of personalities/roles that usually follows some variation on the FiveManBand. Known for their [[SuperSentaiStance synchronized posing]]; also, a StandardPowerupPose is often used in many Sentai works during the TransformationSequence. A key concept is that the collective team are more important than the individual, and that more can be achieved by working together.

Although popular in {{anime}}, there have also been innumerable live action {{Sentai}} series in Japan, most notably ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', the series which was re-edited into ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' in the United States, and 2003's ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon''.

A very western form of Sentai is to feature five teenagers receiving powers, with a transformation, i.e. it doesn't have to involve color-coding, or full body suits. They may not even transform at all, but have powers that combine to make a greater whole.

Contrary to popular belief, "Sentai" '''ONLY''' denotes to shows that have a squad of nigh-identical, color-coded superheroes, not every transforming superhero that comes from Japan (the proper term for that would be HenshinHero, that belongs in the {{Tokusatsu}} genre).

Do ''not'' confuse with {{Hentai}}, please. [[RuleThirtyFour Even though there's definitely some unholy overlap somewhere.]]

----!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' is a hybrid Sentai[=/=]MagicalGirl show that started the MagicalGirlWarrior trope, which is basically a hybrid of these tropes.* Even ''Manga/ShugoChara'' has done it with Kukai. ''Ore wa...GUARDIAN FIVE!'' That is definitely his CrowningMomentOfAwesome.** Don't forget the Tamago Senshi!* ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' has Sentai elements as well -- note the individually colored hardsuits and the almost stereotyped set of personalities found among the Knight Sabers.* ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' (known in America as ''Battle of the Planets'' or ''G-Force'') is a classic Sentai anime -- if not the TropeNamer, it's certainly the TropeMaker.* ''Anime/{{Moldiver}}'' both parodies and pays tribute to classic Sentai (and MagicalGirl) elements .* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' is a classic anime mixing Sentai with mythological fantasy.* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima:'' In an obvious parody of ''Franchise/SuperSentai''/''Franchise/PowerRangers'', the five girls from Negi's class with the lowest grades dub themselves the "Baka Rangers," complete with appropriate "hero names," like "Baka Red" and "Baka Pink". For clarification: Red = Asuna, Blue = Kaede, Yellow = Fei, Black = Yue, Pink = Makie.** During the festival story arc in the manga, there is the "Maho(ra) Rangers" performing on a stage.* ''Manga/KeroroGunsou'' does a few parodies of the Sentai genre. Episode 24 introduces Space Detective Kogoro, an explicit parody of Kenji Ooba in his role as the title character of the {{Toku}} series ''Space Sheriff Gavan''.* Spoofed in ''Anime/{{Mai-HiME}}'', where Midori (the one who JumpedAtTheCall, thinking she's Franchise/SailorMoon) proposes teaming up into the "[=HiME=] Rangers" to fight the [[MonsterOfTheWeek monsters of the week]] more effectively. The two [=HiMEs=] who dismiss the idea as ridiculous ([[spoiler: Natsuki and Nao]]) are tied up and dragged to the meeting place anyway.* ''VisualNovel/LimeIroSenkitan'', with its five-girl Lime unit, in five colours.* ''Anime/{{Cosprayers}}'', an intentional parody of the genre with added {{Fanservice}}.* ''Anime/RoninWarriors'' had Sentai on the sides of both the good guys and the bad guys.* ''Manga/SchoolRumble'' briefly featured the all-female team ''[[ShowWithinAShow Hatenkou Robo Dojibiron]]'' in one episode, whose five pilots (and mecha) were very much a homage to ''Super Sentai''. For bonus points, the Dojibiron team's names were [[TheDanza nearly the same as the five principle voice actresses]], the only difference being the color-coded ThemeNaming. For the record, Imadori is a huge fan of them.* ''[[ShowWithinAShow Chouken Sentai Blade Braver]]'' in ''Manga/BambooBlade''. Tama, the main girl in the show, considers herself an "ally of justice" like the Blade Bravers themselves, and in fact uses the motivation of fighting for right to join the kendo club. Later on, the show reveals that ''Braver'' is just one of many in the 31-year long "''Battle Hero''" series, making it an obvious LawyerFriendlyCameo of ''Franchise/SuperSentai''.* The [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Ginyu Force]] of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' are a parody of this trope: there are five of them (instead of the [[FourIsDeath four]] which are traditional in villainous groups), and they constantly strike poses and throw group attacks. In fact, when recruiting new members for the team, Captain Ginyu is mostly concerned with their posing ability.* ''Anime/MagicalPokaan'' has a singular, Sentai-based episode that becomes increasingly silly. Since the show only has [[FourTemperamentEnsemble four leading girls]], the fifth spot is filled by no one -- the green suit is an empty shell. On top of that, the team's CombiningMecha never forms correctly, with mishaps ranging from a missing component to five copies of the same component attempting to fuse together. The end of the episode is a stream of random gags that would take too long to explain here.** There actually is a fifth ranger. She just happens to be invisible.* The ''Manga/ExcelSaga'' manga is somewhere between a {{Deconstruction}} and [[TheParody Parody]] of this genre. The Municipal Team Daitenzin is Sentai group made up by the local government to fight the evil organization ACROSS, but it's staffed by a collection of disinterested or stupid employees who do more damage than they fix.** The anime, meanwhile, throws out the serious elements and goes into full-blown parody with Municipal Team Daitenzin.* ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays''' OVA ''Magical Heart Kokoro-chan'' has elements of this and MagicalGirl in it. In this particular instance, the team of powered heroines is working for low pay, using a ''vacuum cleaner'' as a weapon and has particularly kinky outfits for their battling. * The episode "Super Sooga Squad" of the ''Animation/{{Pucca}}'' TV series is an AffectionateParody of Sentai series.* Parodied in ''Manga/SpecialDutyCombatUnitShinesman.'' Their suit colors are the intentionally awful Red, Moss Green, Gray, Sepia, and Salmon Pink.* ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce'' had a group of Autobots who pretty much acted as a sentai team.* An audio drama of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' of all things, set post-series and [[AnimatedActors thoroughly destroying the fourth wall]] has the cast having to re-tool the show for new episodes; Asuka has the pilots (Rei, herself, Shinji, Toji, and Kaworu) try being super sentai. [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible It's]]...[[StylisticSuck special]].** It's the audio drama on the "Addition" soundtrack (4th one, with four of them on the cover). There are plenty of translations floating about, including one with graphics. * ''Manga/TentaiSenshiSunred'', a parody of these types of shows.* Parodied and deconstructed in ''Manga/FrankenFran'': Takeshi, a sprinter with a bone disorder, goes to Fran and receives surgery to rebuild his body. Unfortunately, several other sprinters received the same surgery -- when they ''all'' break the world record, he's discredited and disgraced. The others beat the crap out of him, so he gets more surgery and becomes a sentai hero named Sentinel. Then he becomes a KnightTemplar, beating people up for littering, until finally [[spoiler:his victim's family members gun him down. He receives one more surgery, leaving him monstrous... and in his new form he is attacked and killed by ''more'' sentai. The end of the chapter shows the city in a riot of LetsYouAndHimFight battles, while Fran is complaining that everyone wants superpowers but nobody wants to ''pay'' for them.]]* Most shows about CombiningMecha use the sentai style to some extent -- in fact there's even a CombiningMecha anime called ''Chojin Sentai Balatack'', which includes the FiveManBand with color-coded outfits. About the only thing these sorts of shows don't use is the SuperSentaiStance, since typically the heroes rarely fight outside their vehicles or robots, but even so, the combined robot will usually do plenty of posing upon combining.* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' episodes 212 and 213 parody this like there's no tomorrow. * One of the earliest strips in ''Manga/GAGeijutsukaArtDesignClass'' has the five lead girls becoming the "Color Rangers". Keeping with the art theme, they're yellow, magenta, cyan and monochrome. Except for Tomokane, who's red, because every good Sentai team needs a red leader.* Another ShowWithinAShow example is the Star Rangers in ''Manga/MutekiKanbanMusume''. Akihiko is a huge fan of them, to the point that when anyone so much as mentions the show, he starts to think he ''is'' Red Star. He seems equally convinced that the rest of the main cast are the other Star Rangers.** The genre is also deconstructed: the Red Ranger is TheHero, he acts heroic, gets things done, and always gets a HundredPercentHeroismRating… because he is at a TV show. Akihiko it the LoonyFan does exactly the same things the Red Ranger does, is a LordErrorProne in a, and he is the ButtMonkey because he is at RealLife.-->'''Akihiko:''' ''[[ShaggyDogStory Today certainly did seem to be a waste of time]]. But so what? That little girl’ sad face now carries a smile. '' - Begins ThemeMusicPowerUp - ''Do your best Ohta Akihiko. Never lose Ohta Akihiko. For the sakes of everyone’s smiles, fight for tomorrow, Ohta Akihiko. ''--> '''Kankuro:''' ''How are you Akihiko, are you okay? Can you walk on your own? ''-->'''Akihiko:''' ''No. I don’t think so. ''--> At Akihiko’s house, he is watching Star Rangers, with his arm and head bandaged: '''Star Ranger’s narrator:''' ''After destroying the Evil Base, the Star Rangers put hope back on the young boy’s heart. Today, they fought for justice yet again. ''-->'''Akihiko:''' Dramatically standing up adopting an AssKickingPose ''Don’t forget to watch next week! ''* The Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles, who already shared superficial similarities to Sentai, were turned into this outright for the Japanese OVA ''Mutant Turtles: Legend of the Super Mutants''--complete with the gigantic super-form "Turtle Saint".* ''Manga/DuklyonClampSchoolDefenders'' is a parody of this.* In the ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' manga, Kakeru seems determined to turn the student council into a proper "School Defense Force" and starts assigning colors. He claims Black for himself (because he thinks it would make him seem [[TheLancer cool and mysterious]]) and, after teasing Yuki about how his [[{{Bishonen}} pretty face]] should make him Pink, gives him Red for being student council president. [[{{Kawaiiko}} Kimi]] insists on being Pink and sticks [[SugarAndIceGirl Machi]] with Yellow (like Beat above, Kimi claims it's because Machi likes curry so much). [[TheComicallySerious Naohito]] just plain refuses to play along. And [[LargeHam Ayame]] is named the Commander immediately after Kakeru meets him, much to his delight.* ''Angel Blade'', once the series added enough girls, ended up becoming...[[IncrediblyLamePun a Sentai Hentai]].* ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}'' has the ShowWithinAShow ''Honki Sentai Gachiranger''. As ''Mitsudomoe'' is wont to do, the show seems a little more sexually charged than usual for a Sunday morning TV show. Hitoha is a huge fan.* Also spoofed in ''Anime/{{Yumeria}}:'' once all the girls are active in the dream world, they look at their individually-colored outfits and their attacks, and decide they need [[CallingYourAttacks attack names]] and a victory pose.* ''Manga/ShamanKing'' has five [[ChineseVampire Jiang-Si]] in the service of Tao Yuan who are a direct parody of this, though they don't really have the FiveManBand dynamic; nor are they ColorCodedCharacters.* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' is basically this genre adapted to the ''Digimon'' franchise, right down to the team size; they even have a FiveBadBand of PsychoRangers.* ''Goldfish Warning'', Gyoupin Sentai, episode 34.* ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' is another MagicalGirl sentai combination.* The MagicalGirl franchise ''Anime/PrettyCure'' has several examples that could count as all-girl Sentais. The two that come closest are ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' (just look at ''the title'') and ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure''.* ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' has the Shuffle Alliance, which is inspired by the second and third Sentai teams, ''Series/JAKQDengekitai'' (playing card theme) and ''Series/BattleFeverJ'' (MultinationalTeam, though ''G'' has China in place of Kenya). The Alliance even has a Sentai backstory, stating that they've existed from ancient times to keep humanity from destroying itself with war.* ''Manga/LevelE'' has a whole story arc of the anime version devoted to several kids who were pranked into becoming a Sentai team because... well, The Prince felt like it!* ''Franchise/{{Jewelpet}} Kira Deco'' subverts this by stripping its titular (and very over-the-top) sentai team of their powers after they enter Jewel Land in episode 2. Each member does his/her own thing for the majority of the series instead of doing... sentai things.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* ''GreenLantern'' has picked up some Sentai traits with the "New Guardians" teams, comprised of members from seven color-coded and [[PersonalityPowers Personality-Powered]] Corps. None of these people are much for striking poses, but they have the [[BadassCreed shonen speeches]] down cold.* ''ComicBook/{{Cazador}}'' parodies this with the Powerful Galactic Defenders: [=CosmoPatagonian Hare, CosmoArmadillo, CosmoCavy, and CosmoTatou=]. They had a fifth member, [[EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi CosmoPlatypus]], but he died in battle; the [[DumbMuscle title character]] was invited to replace him, but gave up because he couldn't [[ByThePowerOfGrayskull pronounce the animal's name to power up]] (that, and he didn't really want to join them to begin with). Their HumongousMecha looks like a humanoid rabbit.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature]]* {{Animorphs}} is about as close as you get without being a manga.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]* As the introduction says, both the ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' series are the UrExample of this style.** They have also spawned a host of homage series such as ''Series/SportRanger'', ''WebVideo/FranceFive'', and ''Series/KanpaiSenshiAfterV''.* Saban, the company that translated ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' to ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', also tried its hand at translating another series, coming up with ''Series/{{Beetleborgs}}'', and created an original series, ''Series/TheMysticKnightsOfTirNaNog''. ''Beetleborgs'' was adapted from ''Series/JuukouBFighter''. They also made ''Series/VRTroopers'', although their source footage was three earlier ''Franchise/MetalHeroes'' shows, and those shows don't qualify for this trope as they only had one or two heroes.* ''Series/{{Voicelugger}}'', which was the last production by Shotaro Ishinomori, the godfather of ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', released posthumously.* TheAquabats from ''[[TheAquabatsSuperShow The Aquabats! Super Show!]]''.* The Power Falcons from ''Series/KeyAndPeele''.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]* The ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card game (also from Japan, not coincidentally), has the Inzektors, an archetype of Insect-Type, Dark-Attribute monsters that resemble Sentai heroes.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games]]* The Axem Rangers from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' are another Sentai parody.* Franchise/{{Disgaea}} has the Prism Rangers. Humorously, [[spoiler:[[JustShootHim Etna just shoots them]]]] during their TransformationSequence, meaning you don't even have to fight the whole group.** [[LampshadeHanging "But there are only three of you. That's not even enough for a rainbow."]]* The Handsome Men in ''{{killer7}}'' are an antagonist version.* Parodied in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'''s bonus chapter, "Another Day." After everyone's pins get stolen at a Tin Pin Slammer tournament, Shooter brings Neku and his friends to his "secret base" (really Ramen Don) to form the Tin Pin Rangers and save the day. [[HotBlooded Sho]][[TheHero oter]] calls Red for himself as team leader, [[IdiotHero Be]][[BigGuy at]] gets Yellow because of his love of curry, [[DeadpanSnarker Ne]][[TheLancer ku]] gets assigned Black n' Blue, much to his annoyance, and [[TheChick Shiki]] gets Green to match her skirt... but only because [[HoYay Jos]][[TheSmartGuy hua]] called dibs on Pink. [[SixthRanger Rhyme]] joins the team later on and becomes Black, leaving Neku with only Blue, [[spoiler: until she leads them all into a trap and reveals herself as the SixthRangerTraitor.]] * The Dragoons of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', complete with elemental alliances and color coding.* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'': In a Private Action with Leon in Fun City, the "Scummy Rangers" show up in a deliberately over-the-top show where they dispatch evil monsters with the help of the kiddy audience.* Culture Brain intended to bring this to the US under the guise of a superhero team by converting two of their ''HiryuNoKen'' games into one superhero-themed title on the NES, calling it ''FlyingWarriors''. They even had a fairly big marketing blitz to go with it, with a multi-issue comic book being published in GamePro. The game itself ended up being swiftly forgotten.* Spoofed in ''GodHand'' with the Mad Midget Five: a squad of five characters in colour-coded outfits with high-pitched voices, none of whom even reach the main character's waist, prentending they're super heroes and pulling flashy moves. Add to that their high speed and agility, and you have [[ThatOneBoss one of the most annoying boss encounters in the whole game]].** "We are... [[TeamShot the Mad Midget FIVE!"]] ''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny "...Douchebags!"]]''* ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'': [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Hexagon Brothers]], sound-off! 1! 2! 3! 4! 5! "...Wait who's missing? Whatever. We'll wait till he shows up."* ''VideoGame/{{Digital Devil Saga}}'' can be seen as an [[DarkerAndEdgier M-rated]] version of this.* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' brings us Phoenix Ranger Featherman R. They're cliched, but not a parody. [[spoiler:And the heroes of Innocent Sin count, as they roleplayed as these heroes in their childhood, and you need all five masks to unlock all five ultimate Personas.]]** Phoenix Ranger Featherman R makes a return in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. Each week you can catch the "next episode" bit on the television in the dorm's lounge.** Featherman is Yuuta's favorite show in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''. ''[[UpdatedRerelease P4 Golden]]'' allows you to buy Neo Featherman costumes that the heroes can wear while dungeon crawling. Party characters will even perform a SuperSentaiStance after wining a battle. ** After the events of The Answer in ''Persona 3'', Yukari decided to become an actress in Phoenix Ranger Featherman R. The result is the outfit and bow that she uses when she becomes playable in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena''.* For bosses with no lines or personalities. ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'''s Barrier Trio invokes a few Sentai tropes, most notably SuperSentaiStance.* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' takes this trope to the extreme.* Mentioned/Parodied in ''TalesOfTheAbyss'' with the "Abyss Man" costumes for the seven playable characters ([[NewGamePlus if you've already beat the game once]]). Everyone gets a colour-coded costume (red, orange, blue, green, pink, black, and silver) with a hilarious description. "Abyss Man" is apparently a popular show in-universe, and the Emperor of Malkuth is a huge fan. Considering the two lines given that are evidently direct quotes from the show, it's a parody of the genre.* ''VideoGame/ChromaSquad'' is a game about ''producing'' a Sentai show.* Parodied in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' when you reach the top of the Tower of Zot, with the Magus Sisters.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original]]* The Lightning Power Special Team, a group of [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience color-coded heroes]], are the premiere superheroes in the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse''.* Parodied in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE78xrjBdJk The Heavy Rangers]]'', where a standard Sentai team gets crushed to death by morbidly obese people, who end up inheriting their powers.* ''WebVideo/{{Mighty Moshin Emo Rangers}}'' is what would happen if you took those "Teenagers with attitude" and replaced them with [[{{Emo}} "teenagers with an empty void of misery deep within"]].[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]* American animators have made their own version with a twist: ''SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'' features a Sentai-ish team of, well, robot monkeys, complete with different colors and personalities.* ''CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' carries much of this concept. Instead of transformations, they use powers from their elemental rings, and combine their powers to call Captain Planet.* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' also makes reference to sentai with the team colors (Beast Boy: Green, Robin: Red, etc) which are displayed at the end of its upbeat TitleSequence, then of course there's all the team poses.* Parodied in ''KimPossible'' with Team Go, consisting of Mego, Hego, Shego, and the Wego twins.* Parodied in ''MegasXLR'' with the [[LawyerFriendlyCameo S]][[ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman -For]][[{{Voltron}} ce]], then again with the "Ultra Chicks", who blend Franchise/SuperSentai with Anime/SailorMoon.* ''TransformersAnimated'' has hints of this with their [[FiveManBand Five Bot Band]] main robot cast. They're not much for team poses, but they have many other team-dynamics down pat.* Parodied in ''LeagueOfSuperEvil'' with the Force Fighters V. [[labelnote:*]]The V is not Roman Numeral 5, [[ShapedLikeItself it's the letter V]][[/labelnote]]* ''WesternAnimation/RoadRovers'' was an attempt to cash in on the sentai craze.* The ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'' are six [[TheyFightCrime crimefighters]] with MagicMeteor superpowers, ColorCodedForYourConvenience, including pink for TheChick.* The ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' have some Sentai elements, with signature color-codes and weapons and appropriately contrasting/complementing personalities.** [[Series/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 The 2012 cartoon]] makes the brothers fans of various [[ShowWithinAShow Shows Within The Show]] that parody different genres; one of which is a sentai/anime send-up called ''Super Robo Mecha Force Five''.* ''Disney/BigHero6'' is pretty much a totally straightforward example of this trope, featuring a color-coded six person team, each with their own set of powers and even an (admittedly much smaller then usual) mecha.[[/folder]]